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POLACKI'S EARLY VERSE 75these emblems served as the source for "Roskosz."An analysis of Połacki's text also reveals that, while making use of elementsfrom the two emblems discussed above, the young seminarianrejected others that were at variance with his world view and infused thework both with an explicitly Christian content and with Baroque stylisticembellishments completely lacking in his sources. In dealing with"Sirènes," Simiaon excluded the rather explicit references to the femalephysiology and the power of the Sirens' sexual allure, as well as the secularhumanistic nature of Alciati's advice ("Scilicet est doctis: cum meretricenihil"). While considering Camerarius's observations germaine, the committedChristian in Połacki rejected the pessimism inherent in them ("Tu,fuge, ne pereas coluda monstra maris"). Instead, the poet endowed his workwith a Christian religious meaning tinged with an element of hope. Drawingupon the longstanding practice of reinterpreting pagan myth in light ofChristian revelation, Połacki transformed the messages of both emblematicsources. 16Acknowledging that Luxury and Venery were powerful in theirattempts to upset the vessel of those who sail on the "sea of life," Połackiaffirmed that the Christians might escape destruction by binding themselvesto the mast of the ship, the Cross of Christ. Through his reinterpretationPołacki raised Luxury and Venery from the realm of problems of everydaylife, whose consequences are grounded in the here and now of humanexistence, to the transcendental plane of eternal salvation and damnation. 17While transforming the sense of his sources, Połacki also reworked thestyle. The works by both Camerarius and Alciati are spare in style and restrainedin tone. They seek to instruct the reader by appealing to his goodsense and sound reason. Połacki, on the other hand, sought to play on thereader's emotions in addition to appealing to his intellect. Displaying thatfascination with terror and the terrible so characteristic of the Baroque, thepoet heightened the dangers facing the voyager on the sea of life throughthe use of such phrases as "jadem piekielnym pełna" (filled with infernalpoison), "ku Scillom... śmiertelnym" (toward the deadly Scyllas), "Psomna pożarcie" (as food for dogs), "W Scille piekielnej wiecznie pogrążony"(into the infernal Scylla eternally plunged), "Scille nieprzebytej/ Śmierciokrętów morskich jadowitej" (impassable Scylla/venomous death of marinevessels), and "złe Syreny" (evil Sirens). The cumulative effect of such a16Hugo Rahner, S.J., Greek Myths and Christian Mystery (London, 1963), pp. 328-86,discusses the Christian interpretations of "Odysseus at the Mast."17Morozov and Sofronova, "Èmblematika," p. 15, and Uhlenbruch, "Erablematik und Ideologie,"p. 119, comment on constant reinterpretation of emblems as inherent to the artistic andsemantic systems that fostered them.